Is a Bath Tune Up franchisee allowed to sell inventory on approval?
Bath_Tune_Up Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisee may display and offer for sale all Products that have been approved for sale by franchisees of Franchisor. Unless otherwise approved in writing by Franchisor (which consent may be withheld arbitrarily or otherwise in Franchisor's sole discretion), Franchisee may not sell any products other than Products that have been approved for sale by all franchisees of Franchisor. Franchisee acknowledges that Franchisor may have other franchisees in the same general area of Franchisee's Showroom and that Franchisor may consider the interests of all franchisees in deciding whether to allow additional products to be sold from the Showroom.
To ensure no sales are made in the territories of other franchisees and to avoid misunderstandings when customers are quoted a price for Products that are different than the prices of other franchisees, Franchisee must as a preliminary matter first determine if the customer is from another franchisee's contracted territory. If so, Franchisee must refer the customer to the franchisee in whose territory the customer is located and provide such franchisee's name and contact information and must not quote any prices, sales terms or other information to the customer. Franchisee will not be compensated for these referrals but will provide them as a means to protect the goodwill of the BATH TUNE-UP® brand and the Marks.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 52)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bath Tune Up's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee's ability to sell products is subject to approval by the franchisor. Specifically, a Bath Tune Up franchisee can only display and offer for sale products that have been approved for sale by the franchisor.
Unless the franchisor provides written approval, which it may withhold at its discretion, a franchisee cannot sell products that have not been approved for sale by all Bath Tune Up franchisees. This condition is in place because Bath Tune Up may have multiple franchisees operating in the same general area, and the franchisor will consider the interests of all franchisees when deciding whether to allow additional products to be sold from a franchisee's showroom.
To avoid sales being made in other franchisees' territories and to prevent customer misunderstandings about product pricing, a Bath Tune Up franchisee must first determine if a customer is from another franchisee's contracted territory. If so, the franchisee must refer the customer to the appropriate franchisee and must not provide any price quotes or sales terms. Franchisees will not be compensated for these referrals, as they are intended to protect the goodwill of the Bath Tune Up brand.